


The Emperor's Nightingale

by DustyTales



Category: Nightwing (Comics), The Flash - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Drag Queens, M/M, Tumblr: Birdflash Network's DickWally Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-31 15:44:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19429078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DustyTales/pseuds/DustyTales
Summary: Every hero needs some form of escapism to keep them grounded. Dick's may seem a little out there, but he was a performer at heart.So perform he does.





	The Emperor's Nightingale

**Author's Note:**

> The last day of birdflash week is anything goes, so I went totally off the rails because I'm extra like that

Every hero needs something to help them get through the day. The life of a vigilante (even a sanctioned team based superhero) is more stress than any person's psyche could bear without a release. Not managing stress properly is how things like Roy turning to heroin began, so once the friends came together to help him get clean, down time became a concept too important not to be talked about.

Sparring was enough for some of them. Knowing their opponents genuinely didn't want to hurt them, and just wanted to have fun, was enough for a lot of their friends. Many of them went to shooting ranges. Some of the super powered heroes used the sky as their escape.

For Wally it was running. Running like a  _ person  _ rather than a speedster. When Wally tapped into the speed force, he moved so fast it took active concentration not to run into things, and all of his concentration (and sometimes weird time dilation) to take in the world around him.

So Wally jogged most days. He jogged, letting his body do the work for once instead of his powers. He jogged at a speed to take in and memorize the streets of Jump City, and the sidewalks became his second home.

At a core level, most of the ways the team found to unwind were still related to their secret identity. It was the Arrows who took to the shooting ranges, the Supers who took to the skies, and the Bats who took to the sparring mats.

But one Bat was different. One Bat was a performer at heart, and performing was what  _ he  _ needed to keep himself grounded. He worked the mats too, like every other Bat did, but a few nights a month, like the bird he was deep inside, Nightwing needed to fly.

Dick Grayson was the Nightingale, and like all songbirds, the Gale was a joy to behold.

Dick had given up on trying to make people understand before his career really even began. He decided to keep this  _ one _ secret all to himself when he started cross dressing as a teenager, so when he started performing in drag as a young man, his secret just got bigger. A very small handful of his friends knew what he did: Kori had helped him fine-tune Nightingale's aesthetic, and Donna bought him makeup on holidays, away from prying eyes. Babs knew, of course, because Babs knew everything, and while Alfred had put together Dick's fondness for cross dressing while the man was still a child, the performing came long after, so even the seemingly omnipotent butler was in the dark.

High drag was a land of  _ queens:  _ of no boundaries, and no rules on what counted as too much make up, too much glitter, or too flashy a dress. The Nightingale was a woman of refinement, but far from a woman of modestly. Her outfits were almost always sequents from head to toe, with glitter in ever space in between. Blues and golds were her favorites, with feathers as embellishments as often as possible. Knee high boots with heels so high they'd break a lesser woman's neck paired with thigh length dresses and long v neck collars that nearly dipped low enough to show off Dick's defined abs. What it was that kept the Nightingale's small, rather tasteful breasts in place when the dresses always seemed to dip straight between them was a mystery.

Dick  _ needed _ to perform, it was simply in his blood. It surprised even him that this was the itch he needed to scratch to keep himself sane, but he had made his peace with it. This was his life, and he loved it, and if you asked any of the Nightingale's fans, they'd say she was the antithesis of shame.

But Dick was ashamed, deep down. He didn't perform under his real name, and not even the other performers knew. They called him Richie, but a last name was never given. He told himself it was because he was a minor celebrity as Bruce's eldest son, and he didn't want word getting around to the boys at the precinct if anyone connected the dots. But it was a lie. The person he was most afraid of finding out was Bruce, and his coworkers at the club barely questioned the idea of "my father can't find out about this." His secret was a secret for now, and absolutely one was permitted to watch Dick perform to make sure it stayed that way.

But tonight, things would change.

Tonight, Wally had been invited.

Dick had sheepishly confided in Wally about his chosen form of escapism shortly after it began: the two men had grown up together, and they shared everything. For the longest time, Wally was the only one of Dick's male friends who knew, not just because the two were best friends, but because after Dick's falling out with Bruce they'd become roommates. There was only so much you could hide from someone you live with after all, and dresses, heels, and makeup was a little too much to keep out of site all the time. It was part of their lives, and when Dick stepped out on weekends, half the time Wally wouldn't even look up from his video games.

But Dick and Wally were dating now, and that made things so  _ so  _ much more complicated.

Wally had been surprised when Dick had told him he didn't want Wally to watch him perform. Wally had insisted that Dick didn't need to be embarrassed, but the Nightingale insisted it was more than that. Being detached from his audience was what allowed Dick to find performing so freeing, so he worried Wally being there would trip him up.

But slowly, he did bring Wally into his world. 

It began with helping Dick wind down after shows with bubble baths and soft pajamas. Soon, Wally helped him with the various zippers and ties before he walked out the door, until eventually Wally walking out the door with him stopped seeming so scary.

The redhead had been surprised when his partner had invited him to watch his show, but he'd jumped at the opportunity before the other had a chance to change his mind. It was clear at this point that Dick truly wanted to involve Wally in all this, so Wally showed nothing but enthusiasm, hoping it would help ease some of Dick's anxieties. 

Dick never walked out of the house with more than his hair and make up done, so now, backstage, was the first time Wally had ever seen Dick  _ fully _ done up.

The other performers were pointedly giving Wally and the Gale space, but the couple didn't miss the smirks being shot their way.

"I'm never going to hear the end of this," Dick grumbled as he zipped up his boots, "The girls are always on about how private I am, so now that they've seen you, God, they're gonna eat this up."

Wally rolled his eyes, continuing to fold Dick's street clothes and set them in his duffle bag. "We've faced worse together in the past, and I guarantee we'll face worse together by the end of this month alone."

Dick laughed, but the look he gave Wally from under his false eyelashes remained nervous and shy. "I just… Fuck, Walls. You've known about this for years but  _ seeing me  _ like this is… I know it's hard to look at me the same."

Wally dropped the bag on a side table, stepping forward to take his boyfriend's face between his hands. His touch was so very gentle, both to prevent smearing Dick's makeup and to acknowledge how fragile Dick clearly felt.

"Now you listen here, Ms. Nightingale," Wally began firmly, "If you think me seeing you in a feathery dress is about to make me have some sort of crisis, you have too little faith in me. You are not just my boyfriend, you are my  _ best friend  _ and you are  _ gorgeous.  _ You're gorgeous when you wake up with bedhead in an oversized t-shirt, and you're gorgeous now in a feathery dress and heels. So if you think watching the love of my life get up on stage and look  _ gorgeous  _ is going to somehow break me, you're dead wrong."

"Wally…" Dick choked out, tears pricking at the corners of his vision.

"Now I'm gonna go grab a seat, we don't have time for me to make you cry and do your eyes all over again." Wally said with a smile. "I'll see you after the show."

As the speedster turned and walked out of the wings, he managed to catch a snippet of conversation between his partner and another of the Queens.

"You've got yourself a keeper there, Richie." She commented, sounding awed.

"Yeah," the Gale breathed, "I really do."

Wally ordered a drink and got comfortable in one of the booths. The club was pretty high end, comfortable and clean, so he had no issues knocking back a few beers while he waited for Dick to take the stage. The Nightingale was near the end of the ticket, so he had time to kill.

It really hadn't occurred to Wally that he'd have to socialize with other people tonight. He found himself a bit surprised when a man slipped into the booth with him, but Wally had a good seat he sat a respectful distance away, so Wally gave him a nod.

"It's so  _ unusual  _ to see people alone at these shows," The man purred, "At least, alone and actually  _ here _ for the show."

This was a gay bar, so being hit on by a man wasn't that unusual, Wally supposed, but something about the  _ way _ he was being hit on left the redhead cocking an eyebrow. The man sitting across from Wally was broad, muscled, and hairy. His dark hair was slicked back, and he was at least 10 years Wally's senior.

So yeah. This was weird.

"My partner invited me." Wally answered cryptically. He knew Dick preferred people know as little about the Gale as possible, but he also  _ really  _ wanted this guy to leave him alone.

"Have they not made it yet?" The man asked innocently, eyes dramatically wide, "I hope you weren't stood up."

If Wally wasn't literally a super hero he'd probably be worried for his safety, but he knew he could snap this man in half if need be.

The lights went down at this point, but as Dick was the last performer, Wally didn't look away from his new "companion."

"Not at all." Wally replied calmly, "He's performing tonight."

The man tsked in at way that had Wally narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, I don't know if the kind of man who'd perform in a show like  _ this  _ is right for you, sweet thing."

Wally rolled his eyes and forced his gaze on the first dancer to come out. "Way to make snap judgements about people you've never met. It's a good look."

The other man chuckled, and made some comment under his breath about Wally being "feisty" but the redhead didn't grace him with a response.

All of the performers were talented, and the show was tasteful. There was a certain amount of sexualization, that was just the art form, but it wasn't like there was any pole dancing. That didn't stop the patrons from acting like pigs, of course, but the second the Nightingale walked out on stage, the rest of the club melted away in Wally's eyes.

The song wasn't familiar, but the bass thumped in Wally's chest, and every small movement the Gale made was perfectly timed. She was poised and practiced, and Wally fell in love all over again.

He'd never seen Dick look so  _ free.  _ His movements, dips, and spins, were all so familiar after watching him fight for years, but the way the Nightingale held herself compared to Nightwing was different. Wally had never realized how much tension Dick fought with until now: until he saw those same movements loose, practiced, and free. The Nightingale was the closer for a reason: she was clearly the most talented, and her flexibility was no small part of that. How high Dick pulled his legs up would have been absolutely scandalis if the entire outfit wasn't designed around it. 

Parts of the crowd whooped and screamed like Dick was a stripper, but not a single sound seemed to phase the Nightingale. She was on another plane of existence, where she and the stage were the only things left. The serene look on Dick's face was so genuine that by the time the song ended, Wally's face hurt from smiling. But as the Nightingale looked out over the crowd and took in the applause, she locked eyes with the speedster, and for the first time since Dick took the stage, he smiled too.

Wally leapt up to cheer with the crowd as the curtains closed, uncaring how his booth mate looked at him.

"Oh, honey, you're telling me you've fallen for  _ the Nightingale _ ?" The man cooed, "I hate to break it to you, but she's a stone cold bitch."

"Because you would know that?" Wally deadpanned.

"I would." He said smugly, "Sure, the Gale will warm your bed easy enough, but she'd eat a sweet thing like you alive!"

Wally opened his mouth to retort, but stopped when he heard his name from across the room. He turned to see Dick, duffle bag over his shoulder but still in full drag, bounding up to meet Wally with a grin a mile wide.

"There's my beautiful bird!" Wally called out, running up to meet his boyfriend and sweeping him up in a hug. Still in his heels, Dick was taller than Wally, but neither seemed to care as Dick giggled breathlessly and hugged his lover close.

"Oh you were phenomenal, Dickie!" Wally gushed, "Absolutely gorgeous! You had them eating out of the palm of your hand!"

Dick laughed before pulling Wally into a long kiss that had the people around them gaping. 

"You don't know how much it means to me to have you here." Dick said finally, "I didn't realize how badly I needed you to see me fly."

Wally smiled fondly up at his partner, before giving him another quick peck. "You big sap. Let's get you home, you and I have a bubble bath with our name on it."

Dick's laugh was angelic as the couple swept out of the club, but Wally looked back just long enough to shoot a shit eating grin at his previous naysayer. The middle finger he was greeted with caused Wally to laugh too.


End file.
